Total Wellness and Preventive Solutions for Pets
At our Cottleville, MO, clinic, we’re dedicated to keeping your dogs and cats healthy and happy through every life stage. Whether you’re searching for a “vet near me” for routine check-ups, vaccinations, or parasite prevention, our experienced team is here to help.
Preventative care allows us to catch potential health issues early, ensuring timely treatment and supporting your pet’s long, healthy life. We offer personalized care tailored to your pet’s unique needs and are proud to be your trusted partner in lifelong wellness.
Examinations
Just as doctors recommend regular check-ups for people, veterinarians encourage routine wellness exams for pets. Early detection of health issues can lead to more effective treatment, lower long-term costs, and simpler care. We’ll create a customized wellness plan for your pet based on their breed, age, lifestyle, and overall health to help keep them happy and thriving.
We believe informed pet owners play a key role in long-term wellness. During exams, our team takes time to educate you on preventing and managing common conditions such as arthritis and dental disease. We’ll explain early warning signs, daily care habits, and lifestyle adjustments that can support comfort, mobility, and oral health, helping you make confident decisions for your pet’s ongoing care.
Wellness exams typically include:
- A complete nose-to-tail physical exam to evaluate your pet’s overall health and build a detailed health profile
- A conversation about your pet’s behavior, diet, activity level, and daily habits
- Personalized recommendations for vaccinations and diagnostic tests
- Ongoing monitoring of health changes, such as weight shifts, to catch issues early
- A chance for you to ask questions and discuss any concerns about your pet’s well-being
Health Screenings
Routine health screenings give us a clearer picture of how your pet’s body is functioning, often before symptoms appear. These screenings help guide preventive care and support early management of disease.
Depending on your pet’s age, health, and lifestyle, screenings may include:
- Bloodwork to evaluate organ function, infection, inflammation, and overall health
- Urine testing to assess kidney health, hydration, and signs of infection or stones
- Thyroid screening to monitor hormone balance and metabolism
- Heart and lung evaluation to check circulation, oxygen delivery, and respiratory health
- Digestive and metabolic markers to identify issues affecting the pancreas or intestines
These results allow us to tailor care, monitor changes over time, and help your pet maintain long-term wellness.
Vaccinations
With over 50 million pets in the U.S., your pet is likely to be exposed to infectious diseases at some point. That’s why we carefully evaluate your pet’s lifestyle and unique risk factors to recommend only the vaccines and preventatives that are truly necessary. Our veterinarians follow personalized, modern vaccine protocols designed to minimize over-vaccination, using multi-year vaccines when appropriate and tailoring each plan to your pet’s specific needs and environment.
Parasite Prevention for Safeguarding Your Pet and Your Family
At Cottleville Animal Hospital, we know parasites are more than just a nuisance—they can seriously impact the health of both your pet and your family. Fleas, ticks, heartworms, and intestinal parasites can easily find their way into your home through shoes, clothing, or even open windows.
When left untreated, parasites can cause stunted growth, worsen existing health issues, and lead to life-threatening infections. Some, like roundworms and hookworms, are zoonotic, meaning they can be passed from pets to people, posing additional risks to your household.
The good news? Preventing parasites is simple, highly effective, and far less costly than dealing with a full-blown infestation.
Routine Testing and Prevention for Your Pet’s First Defense
Regular Exams and Lab Tests Help Us:
- Detect common parasites like roundworms, hookworms, Giardia, and Coccidia that can cause intestinal problems in pets.
- Create a personalized treatment plan if parasites are found, tailored to your pet’s unique needs.
- Help stop the spread of parasites to other pets and human family members—because protecting everyone’s health matters!
Personalized Recommendations for Every Life Stage
- Puppies & Kittens: These curious youngsters are especially prone to intestinal worms. We recommend several fecal exams during their first year since standard dewormers may not cover all parasites.
- Adult Pets: Even with consistent year-round preventatives, we suggest fecal testing every 6–12 months to catch potential problems early
Year-Round Protection
Parasites are active all year long, and your pet’s protection should be, too! Even though parasites are more common in warmer months, just one mild day can give them the chance to spread. That’s why consistent, year-round prevention is essential. Monthly treatments—whether chewable tablets or easy topical applications—offer continuous protection with no gaps.
Together, we can keep your pets and your family safe, healthy, and parasite-free!
Fleas and Ticks
We can help you choose the best treatment options for your environment and discuss effective ways to control fleas on your pet, in your home, and throughout your yard.
- Fleas and ticks are external parasites that can irritate your pet’s skin and transmit harmful diseases.
- Ticks are known carriers of serious illnesses, including Lyme disease.
- Fleas can spread diseases like tapeworms and Bartonella (cat scratch fever).
- Flea bites can also cause skin allergies, which are common in both cats and dogs.
- Ticks latch onto the skin and feed on your pet’s blood, posing ongoing health risks.
- Monthly preventative products are available to effectively protect against fleas and ticks.
- It’s essential to regularly check your pet for fleas during grooming and inspect for ticks, especially after outdoor activities in high-risk areas like woods or campsites.
Intestinal Parasites
Fecal testing is recommended once or twice a year, depending on your pet’s lifestyle and risk factors. Dogs and cats are often exposed to internal parasites, some of which can be transmitted to humans. This creates health risks not only for your pet but also for your family and the broader community. Parasites are common throughout the U.S., with puppies and kittens being especially vulnerable. For example, roundworms are a leading cause of preventable blindness in children.
Heartworm
Heartworm disease is serious but completely preventable. We recommend yearly heartworm testing and consistent, monthly prevention to keep your pet safe.
- Heartworms are transmitted through mosquito bites.
- Adult heartworms settle in the right side of the heart.
- They can grow 6 to 14 inches long, and a single dog can carry hundreds.
- Heartworms block blood flow and can severely damage the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys.
- Serious harm or even death can occur before visible symptoms develop.
- Advanced signs include coughing, breathing difficulty, fatigue, weight loss, fainting, and in severe cases, death.
- Heartworm prevention is essential for cats too—indoor cats account for about 5% of positive cases.
- Heartworm disease has been reported in every U.S. state and throughout Canada.
Microchipping
Microchip implantation is a quick, nearly painless procedure that provides your pet with permanent identification and lifelong protection. Similar to receiving a routine vaccine, the microchip is placed between the shoulder blades, where there’s more fatty tissue and fewer nerves or blood vessels. Unlike collars or tags, a microchip can’t fall off, get lost, or be easily removed.
Nutrition & Weight Management
Over half of dogs and cats in the United States are overweight or obese, with 52.7% of dogs and 57.9% of cats affected.
Remember, more food doesn’t mean more love! While it’s easy to want to share with your pet, their dietary needs are very different from ours. Our focus is always to "feed the patient, not the bowl!" Age, breed, weight, health conditions, and activity level all play a role in determining the right diet—whether your pet needs a special plan or simply a balanced routine.
If your pet is dealing with challenges like obesity, food allergies, kidney stones, liver disease, or renal failure, we’re here to provide tailored nutritional guidance and effective solutions.
Behavior Counseling
Health problems can often stem from or be affected by behavioral issues. Even pets in good physical health may need behavioral guidance to avoid challenges at home and within the family. Our team is skilled in recognizing, preventing, and managing unwanted behaviors. We’re here to offer practical training advice and personalized recommendations to support your pet’s behavioral development and help create a harmonious home environment.